Transforming lives: East Midlands reveals roadmap for fairer growth

It’s been a big week for the East Midlands as the final report of the Inclusive Growth Commission (IGC) was launched on Monday in Derby, followed today by an event in London at the RSA to share the findings with investors and policy makers. Both events drew strong crowds, with a real buzz in the room as people came together to discuss the region’s future.

With a population of 2.2 million people and an economy worth £60 billion a year, the East Midlands is simply too big to fail. Yet the report shows the region trails behind on investment and public spending, with an £18 billion annual investment gap compared to the best-performing parts of the UK, and the lowest level of government spending per person anywhere in the country — £16,785 compared with more than £21,000 in London.

The Commission in a partnership with the Royal Society for Arts and Commerce (RSA), which met with more than 500 people through over 100 events, surveys and roundtables, has set out a practical roadmap for change. At its centre is the UK’s first Opportunity Escalator — a tool designed to remove barriers that stop people getting on in life and to help them “get up” into better-paid work.

The analysis is clear. If plans for 18 new employment sites across the region are matched with a working Escalator, up to 30,000 people could move into better jobs, boosting wages by an average of £6,700 per worker. Over the next decade, this could transform lives, strengthen communities, and bring billions into the local economy.

The recommendations are extensive: every young person should have access to careers guidance, work experience and wellbeing support; adults should be able to retrain in fast-growing sectors like green energy and digital; poor health should no longer hold people back from work, with better links between health and employment services; and local communities should have more support through trusted venues like schools, libraries and hubs.

The report also underlines why this matters nationally. It’s the first time a whole-region inclusive growth model has been launched in the UK, designed not just for the East Midlands but as a scalable framework that other regions can adopt.

From Derby to London, the message this week is clear: the East Midlands has the ideas, the plan and the will to succeed. Now, with the right investment, it can lead the way in building a fairer, healthier and more prosperous future for everyone.